Mauzé sur le Mignon

Mauzé is the small town where Hélène's parents live; it is about 1/2 hr away from La Rochelle (on the Atlantic coast). We arrived on Wednesday afternoon, and have been enjoying several days of pure rest and relaxation, not to mention faaaabulous weather. Even when the weather here is crappy, its nice! Yesterday we visited the "city" of Niort. We walked around and saw some of the shops. And where did I go? You guessed it... the book store! I have added 2 more books to my Asterix and Obelisk collection (a French comic book that takes place in medeival France, during the time of the Crusades). I also purchased the first two books in the Harry Potter series; turns out they are a bit easier for me to read than the French "lire en français" book I actually brought with me. Today I brought Dad to the farmer's market, next to the church. I couldn't help it, I had to buy rabbit. Now I love to cook, but never in my life have I prepared rabbit. So I experienced what should have become, by all rights, a near culinary disaster. The stove is quite different from mine, so there is a learning curve there. Then there was the possibly questionable cooking wine I used, nearly burnt garlic, and instead of adding olive oil when the pan was a bit dry, I accidentally grabbed nut oil (whose nuts is yet to be determined). Anyhow, despite these things, Bugs actually came out quite tasty! Chalk one up for the winning team. Monday we leave for Bordeaux, the city of wine :)